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Ms Nightshade
Ms Nightshade was a robot which competed in Series 9 of Robot Wars. It was entered by two students from the University of Brighton, and was one of only a few robots to have an all-female team. In its only battle, Ms Nightshade was eliminated as it struggled for movement and was thrown up and over by reigning champions, Apollo. Design Ms Nightshade featured a unique, tall conical-shaped body reminiscent of a nightshade flower (hence the name). Painted dark purple (two-tone purple in profile images), the robot featured six pneumatically-powered 'petals' around its surface, each with a spike mounted on top which allowed them to function as hammers/axes by firing downwards. Alternately, the 'petals' can act as a sit-and-spin weapon when fully opened and when Ms Nightshade is spinning. The team claimed that Ms Nightshade had the ability to climb out of the pit using its 'petals', and that it could not be flipped; however, the latter claim was spectacularly disproven in its only battle. Ms Nightshade was not only the tallest robot in Series 9, but also the widest, with a height of one metre and a width of two metres with the 'petals' fully extended. The bottom of the robot was decorated with two lines of LEDs. Ms Nightshade was built very last minute, due to being accepted based on a paper application and because the university insisted on a wooden version being built first. It also meant that the robot was not fully assembled or tested when the show was broadcast.https://slick.productions/2017/04/28/nightshade/ Etymology The robot's name and design are inspired by the 'nightshades', a family of flowers notable for containing powerful and sometimes toxic alkaloids, with the title of 'Ms' added to the front of the name, to represent the all-female team who created Ms Nightshade. The Team Katie Henderson was a student of Ian Watts. She had enrolled in his robot combat module at the time Series 8 was announced, and when Series 9 was announced Watts was asked if he knew any aspiring engineers who could apply. Henderson took the opportunity to apply and was ultimately accepted. With teammate Jodie Nye and assisted by the university and Watts himself, the robot was built in six weeks.https://slick.productions/2017/04/28/nightshade/ Ms Nightshade write up, by Charles Hoile Robot History Series 9 Ms Nightshade competed in Heat 5, where it faced the reigning champion Apollo, and fellow newcomers Coyote and Rusty. This would prove to be the robot's first time being driven as a completed robot. However, difficulty immediately struck, as one half of Ms Nightshade's drive had been disabled prior to the battle. As a result, Ms Nightshade started the battle by twitching on the spot as one of its petals hung outwards. Ms Nightshade then flailed away with its weapons as Coyote attempted to push it backwards, before being sent airborne - with its petals outstretched - by a flip from Apollo. Ms Nightshade landed on its side, and, unable to self-right, helplessly flicked its petals. Dead Metal then strewed Ms Nightshade around the arena floor as it was activated into Rogue House Robot mode. With Rusty also immobile, cease was called, and Ms Nightshade was eliminated at the first hurdle. It was later confirmed that Ms Nightshade had been damaged while being loaded into the arena prior to its battle. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 0 *Losses: 1 Series Record Outside Robot Wars With both team members having moved on in their studies, Ms. Nightshade resided at the University of Brighton after Series 9 was filmedhttps://slick.productions/2017/04/28/nightshade/, before later being scrapped due to a lack of spacehttps://slick.productions/nightshade/. Trivia *Ms Nightshade was first unofficially revealed on December 3rd, 2016, through a tweet from Professor Noel Sharkey, who was supporting the presence of female engineers on the teamhttps://twitter.com/NoelSharkey/status/805081096111214592. *Ms Nightshade and Jellyfish were the final two robots to use lead acid batteries as a power source on Robot Wars. References External Links *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-9/week-5/ms-nightshade/ Ms Nightshade on the Robot Wars website] Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from East Sussex Category:Robots which debuted in Series 9 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 9 Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Robots with Unique weapons Category:Sit-and-Spin Robots Category:Robots with Spiked Axes/Picks Category:Robots which lost their only battle